Is the City of Miami About to Go Bankrupt? Marc Sarnoff Seems to Like the Idea

Since Mayor Tomás Regalado's election, the City of Miami's dismal budget crisis hasn't improved much. The city coffers are still being strained by high salaries for city employees and large pension payouts. Now Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, the second most powerful elected official in the city after Regalado, is openly discussing the possibility of bankruptcy.

"We are not the only city, municipality to be going through this," Sarnoff told a WTVJ reporter. "It looks like Los Angeles sometime next week or the week after will be going bankrupt. It looks like there will be 30 more cities following suit."

While L.A. is certainly in its own budget mess, we can't find any reports that indicate for sure the city is heading into bankruptcy anytime soon.

However, Sarnoff seems to think the upside of bankruptcy would be that it would take tough financial decisions out of the hands of the elected city council and into those of a judge.

"You no longer have five people making political solutions. You now have one person who is looking after the best interest of the taxpayer of the City of Miami, without any politics getting into his or her way."

Sarnoff says that at this point, there are only three ways to avoid bankruptcy: Renegotiate union contracts, lay off 800 workers, or raise property taxes.